Presently, aircraft brake assemblies typically include a heat stack of alternatingly interleaved stator and rotor disks of a carbon composition. The disks are maintained between pressure plate and endplate disks such that the application of pressure and resulting force to the pressure plate causes the stators and rotor disks to frictionally engage, causing mechanical energy to dissipate as heat in the heat stack as the aircraft is brought to a stop. The generation of noise in the brake assemblies resulting from the interengagement of the disks with each other and/or the pressure plate and endplate has often been a problem attendant to the use of the otherwise preferred carbon brake assemblies. The problem often seems to be most pronounced during low-energy stops, such as during taxiing and the like. While the attendant noise is typically not indicative of any deficiencies or shortcomings in the efficacy of the brake system, it is often annoying and disconcerting to passengers. Accordingly, it is desired to eliminate, or at least attenuate, such noise without adverse effects on the braking operation.
In the past, approaches to such noise suppression or attenuation has focused on either modifying or adjusting the carbon mix employed in making the stator and rotor disks or in employing various types of mechanical vibration or oscillation dampers to physically dampen the noise generated by the disks during a braking activity. Neither of these approaches has resulted in much success, and has often had concomitant reduction in braking efficiency or increase in manufacturing costs.